July 12, 2012 AT 8:44 pm

ASK AN EDUCATOR! – “Can scrap EL sheet still be used?”

I have a question. I have a cuttable El Sheet panel which has 4 connector pins, 1 for each side.

If I have cut out my shapes and used up these pins but still have some leftover el sheet. How do i use the remainder el sheet without any connector pins?

Do I solder onto the el panel tabs or is this too risky? What methods are available if I want to use these bits of the El Sheet which don’t have connector pins?

Would you suggest wire glue? I haven’t seen anyone answer this question yet, so thought I would ask!
Thank You

This is a great question as I am sure this is not a unique problem!

Short answer to your question is yes (well probably yes, I don’t have any on hand so this is hypothetical. Please chime in on the topic if they have/have not had success)….but looks like it will be a bit tricky. If you look at the cross-section of your el sheet, you are going to have to remove a small amount of material in order to expose conductive ITO layer. You should be able to do this by carefully scraping through the rear protective film, rear electrode, and phosphor dielectric or by going through the cover protective film on the front. Once you have exposed a small amount of ITO layer, I would recommend using a drop of wire glue to connect your electrode. Make sure you you have completely cleaned and isolated the ITO + wire glue bond from the phosphor and rear electrode as it will produce an electrical short. For the rear electrode, you should just be able to carefully remove the protective film and attach your wire with a drop of wire glue.

Let us know how it goes. It is always fun to experiment and see just what you can do!

I hope this has helped and as I asked before, if anyone has, or wants to give it a try, let us know how it goes!